No. 

No. 
No. 

PIUNCETON,  N.  J. 

.Ci  .MSI on                 /          1 

5"<    N^:2?.j.(:>,S2.. 

rh(>  Join 

1   11.   Krcbs   Donation. 

j  THE  PRIVATE 

I 

i  DOMESTIC  AND  SOCIAL 

I  LIFE  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

i  A  MODEL  FOR  YOUTH. 


Rom.  XV.  5. 


BY    TH^ 

Rev.  JOHN  M>^REBS,  D.  D. 

Pastor  of  Rutgers  Street  Church,  NewYoik. 


SECOND     EDITION, 
PHILADELPHIA  : 

WILLIAM    S.    MARTIEN 
142  Chestnut  Street. 


Entered,  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the 
year  1849,  by  Wm.  S.  Martien,  in  the  office 
of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eas- 
tern District  of  Pennsylvania. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

I  propose  in  the  following  pages 
to  treat  of  the  Private  and  Domes- 
tic Life  and  Character  of  Jesus,  as 
distinguished  from  his  public,  official 
ministry ;  and  to  hold  up  this  model 
for  the  imitation  of  the  Young. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


DEDICATION. 

TO  THE  BELOVED  YOUNG  PEOPLE 

OF  HIS  CHARGE, 

THIS  MINIATURE  VOLUME 

WHICH  AI3IS  AT    NOTHING    BEYOND  A  PLAIN  AND 
FAMILIAR    EXPOSITION 

OF    A    CHARACTER 

OF  ALL  OTHERS 

THE    MOST  WORTHY   OF    THEIR  AFFECTION  AND 
IMITATION, 

IS    OFFERED  AS  A  TOKEN 

OF  THEIR 

PASTOR'S    FRIENDSHIP. 


LIFE  OF  CHRIST,  &c. 


Biography  is  always  interesting.  The 
mind  is  pleased  in  beholding  the  gra- 
phic succession  of  incidents  that  pass 
before  us  as  in  a  moving  panorama ; 
and  there  is  in  us  a  strong  natural 
desire  of  information  concerning  those 
who  have  distinguished  themselves  in 
the  world's  history.  For  its  gratifica- 
tion, the  Hves  of  warriors,  philosophers, 
statesmen,  and  poets,  have  been  ex- 
plored with  most  curious  research,  and 
paraded  in  minutest  detail.  Not  even 
the  nursery  has  escaped ;  and  the 
narrative  of  childish  precociousness  and 


6  SOCIAL  LIFE 

juvenile  exploit  becomes  distended  with 
"  wasteful  and  ridiculous  excess." 

Some  specimens  of  juvenile  religious 
biography  are  exceedingly  liable  to  this 
criticism.  If  not  absolutely  apocryphal, 
they  are  made  so,  through  the  biased 
imagination  of  the  historian,  magni- 
fying very  trivial  and  commonplace 
affairs  until  they  loom  before  the  as- 
tonished vision  as  most  extraordinary 
events.  For  the  edification  of  this 
reading  age,  the  prolific  press  teems 
with  amazing  chronicles,  wherein  in- 
fantile prodigies  figure  amid  such  illus- 
trious epochs  as  the  process  of  den- 
tition, the  transfer  from  the  nurse's 
arms  to  the  first  experiments  in  peripa- 
tetics, and  the  initiation  into  the  myste- 
ries of  the  pictorial  alphabet;  and  the 
incipient  developments  of  juvenile  piety 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  7 

are  gravely  recorded,  from  the  first  ap- 
propriate hymn  or  prayer  which  child- 
hood lisps  to  its  sublimer  discovery  and 
announcement  that  the  stars  are  little 
perforations  in  the  sky  to  let  the  glory 
through. 

Now,  while  all  this  sort  of  absurdity 
is  rich  enough  to  provoke  a  smile,  and 
the  vanity  both  of  parents  and  of  too 
partial  reporters  is  rebuked  by  the 
brief  and  simple  beauty  of  the  evangeli- 
cal biographies,  it  is  only  the  too  great 
abuse  of  a  proper  curiosity  that  is  to 
be  condemned. 

And  there  is  one  character  that  has 
appeared  on  the  stage  of  human  exist- 
ence, in  regard  to  whom,  it  may  be 
pardoned  if  we  feel  some  solicitude  to 
learn  the  particulars  of  his  childhood 
and  youth. 


8  SOCIAL  LIFE 

Who  of  us  that  has  ever  contempla- 
ted the  wonderful  history  of  our  gra- 
cious Redeemer,  as  it  is  exhibited  by 
the  four  Evangehsts? — who,  in  their 
vivid  and  engaging  pictures,  has  seen 
the  Holy  Ghost  descending  like  a  dove 
to  rest  upon  him,  and  standing  by  the 
side  of  Jordan,  or  on  the  Mount  of  the 
transfiguration,  has  heard  the  voice 
from  the  excellent  glory,  proclaiming 
"This  is  my  beloved  Son  ;" — who  that 
has  witnessed  the  successful  conflict 
with  the  temptation  in  the  wilderness, 
or  sat  at  his  feet  to  listen  to  the  gracious 
words  that  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth, 
when  he  uttered  the  beautiful  truths  of 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  where  he 
spake  as  one  having  authority,  and  not 
as  the  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees  ;  who 
that  has  followed  his  footsteps  on  his 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  9 

errands  of  mercy,  and  beheld  the  gene- 
rous exertions  of  his  miraculous  power  ; 
that  has  heard  the  dumb  speak  and 
seen  the  dead  come  forth  from  the 
sepulchres  at  his  bidding;  that  has 
lived  again  in  that  cruel  hour  when 
vile  men  plaited  the  crown  of  thorns 
upon  his  brow,  and  drove  the  nails 
through  those  hands  ever,  and  even 
then,  stretched  out  in  mercy  ;  that  has 
wept  at  his  tomb,  and  been  revived 
again  by  the  glorious  resurrection  of 
the  Conqueror  of  Death  and  Hell,  and 
has  stood  in  raptured  amazement  to 
gaze  upon  him,  as  he  ascended  through 
the  clouds,  to  his  Father  and  our 
Father,  to  his  God  and  to  owr  God : 
And  who,  especially,  that  has  listened 
to  that  celestial  minstrelsy,  when  angels 
sung  the  song  of  redemption  over  the 
2 


10  SOCIAL  LIFE 

plains  of  Bethlehem,  or  has  bowed  with 
eastern  sages  before  the  manger  of  the 
infant  Son  of  Mary,  or  trembled  with 
dread  of  the  bloody  tyrant  who  sought 
the  young  child's  life  and  filled  those 
hapless  coasts  with  unavailing  slaugh- 
ters, and  with  the  lamentations  of 
bereaved  mothers  for  the  murder  of 
their  innocents  ;  or  who  that  has  been 
astonished  at  the  understanding  and 
answers  of  the  youthful  and  modest  in- 
quirer, who  appears  in  the  midst  of  the 
doctors  in  the  temple,  and  has  pursued 
his  career,  as  the  imagination  painted 
him,  returning  from  Jerusalem  to  abide 
amid  the  secluded  employments  of 
domestic  life,  in  his  parents'  dwelling 
at  Nazareth  :  who  of  us  that  has  been 
absorbed  by  all  these  charming  records, 
has  not  wished  to  know  yet   more  of 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  11 

the  earJy  incidents  of  such  a  life,  thirty 
years  of  Avhich  were  passed  in  a  seclu- 
sion that  is  almost  entirely  hidden  from 
our  view?  We  would  still  nearer, 
oftener,  and  more  intimately  scan  the 
stages  of  that  progress  w^hich  was  made 
by  the  "  holy  child  Jesus,'*  that  we 
might  see  for  ourselves  how  he  grew 
and  waxed  strong  in  understanding, 
the  scenes  wherein  he  displayed  his 
fulness  of  wisdom,  and  manifested  that 
excellence  of  grace  which  was  upon 
him.  We  would  wait  upon  the  foot- 
steps of  such  a  youths  that  we  might 
hear  his  conversation,  and  become 
familiar  with  the  beautiful  and  impres- 
sive particulars  of  such  a  manhood, 
while,  still  remaining  in  subjection  to 
his  parents,  he  increased  in  wisdom 
and  stature,  in  all  those  years  of  filial 


12  SOCIAL  LIFE 

service,  of  patient  waiting,  and  of  pious 
preparation,  and,  in  all,  beloved  both  of 
God  and  man,  up  to  the  very  point  of 
his  assuming  the  public  functions  of 
his  mission  and  ministry  as  the  Saviour 
of  the  world ! 

But  it  has  not  pleased  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  indite  for  us  all  the  particu- 
lars of  the  early  life  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Indeed,  although  we  are  furnished 
with  numerous  and  varied  details  of 
that  portion  of  his  life  which  comprised 
his  public  ministry,  even  in  regard  to 
it,  we  are  told  that  there  are  many 
other  things  which  he  did,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  his  disciples,  that  are  not 
written.  But  enough  was  written  that 
Ave  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  be- 
lieving, we  might  have    life   through 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  13 

his  name.  In  this  reserve,  though  our 
curiosity  is  disappointed,  yet  is  there 
no  disservice  done  to  us.  There  is 
sufficient  for  our  attaining  that  know- 
ledge which  makes  wise  unto  salva- 
tion. And  the  same  discreet  reserve 
is  properly  exhibited  with  respect  to 
the  scenes  of  his  early  years  before 
entering  on  his  public  ministry.  This 
characteristic  of  the  sacred  record, 
sober,  dignified,  brief,  simple  and  mo- 
dest, is  in  strong  and  disparaging  con- 
trast with  those  vain  absurdities  with 
which  tradition  has  attempted  to  mend 
the  word  of  God,  and  with  the  puerile 
fables  which  abound  in  such  apocry- 
phal narratives  as  the  gospels  of  the 
"Infancy  of  Jesus,"  and  other  spurious 
books,  wherein  patristic  and  monkish 
zeal    has    profanely    and    fraudulently 


14  SOCIAL  LIFE 

endeavoured  to  supply  the  want  which 
our  curiosity,  if  not  our  piety,  has  found 
in  the  evangelical  histories:  while  this 
very  redundance  of  worthless  miracles, 
and  lying  wonders,  and  all  this  deceiv- 
ableness  of  unrighteousness  and  corrup- 
tion of  the  truth  and  simplicity  of  the 
gospel,  serve,  at  once,  to  demonstrate 
the  presumption  of  the  inventors,  and, 
as  a  foil,  to  set  off  in  its  own  brilliant 
and  saving  lustre,  the  beauty,  the  sim- 
plicity, the  truthfulness,  and  the  hea- 
venly origin  of  the  only  record  which 
God  hath  given  of  his  Son. 

But,  although  the  veil  is  drawn  over 
the  greater  part  of  the  Saviour's  early 
and  private  life — and  it  is  even  admis- 
sible that,  beyond  the  striking  inci- 
dents that  are  recorded,  there  were  in 
a   life  so  pure,  so  modest,  and  so  se- 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  15 

eluded,  but  few  remarkable  occur- 
rences demanding  record — yet  we  are 
not  left  altogether  without  information 
concerning  his  childhood  and  his  youth. 
If  we  are  precluded  from  an  intrusive 
inspection  of  his  retired  hours,  and  are 
restrained  by  the  scriptural  and  only 
authentic  account  of  his  youth  from  all 
mere  conjecture  and  foolish  invention, 
we  are  nevertheless  sufficiently  inform- 
ed, if  not  for  the  gratification  of  idle 
curiosity,  at  least  for  the  instructiveness 
of  his  example,  and  even  for  the  cor- 
roboration of  his  matured  claims  and 
public  official  character,  we  are  suffi- 
ciently informed  of  the  leading  facts 
and  traits  of  his  youthful  deportment 
and  singular  early  life. 

For,  besides  the  circumstances  of  his 
birth,  his  circumcision  and  presenta- 


16  SOCIAL  LIFE 

tion  in  the  temple,  the  homage  of  the 
wise  men  who  saw  his  star  in  the  east, 
and  the  testimonies  of  Simeon  and 
Anna,  and  the  flight  into  Egypt — 
which  it  is  not  within  our  purpose  to 
review  at  this  time — we  are  also  made 
acquainted  with  some  important  de- 
tails of  the  interval  between  the  return 
from  Egypt,  which  was  probably  in  his 
second  year,  and  his  baptism  by  John. 
And  these  intervening  facts,  under  the 
light  that  is  reflected  upon  them  from 
the  record  of  his  public  ministry,  and 
of  his  own  teachings,  and  from  the 
apostolical  epistles,  become  radiant  and 
suggestive,  so  that  it  is  no  effort  of  rash 
and  daring  conjecture,  if  with  such 
materials  we  undertake  to  illustrate  the 
private  history  of  Jesus  Christ,  not  only 
in  the  period  of  childhood,  up  to  his 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  17 

appearance  in  the  temple,  at  twelve 
years  of  age,  but  also  in  the  succeeding 
eighteen  years  which  elapsed  while  he 
dwelt  at  Nazareth  in  subjection  to  his 
parents,  until  he  entered  upon  that 
public  ministry,  of  which  we  have  such 
ample  details. 

While  then  our  knowledge  is  so 
limited,  as  to  the  specific  incidents  of 
his  youth  and  childhood,  a  fact  of 
which  it  becomes  us  to  be  aware,  lest 
we  overstep  the  modesty  which  bounds 
our  inquiry  and  instruction,  there  is, 
on  the  other  hand,  so  much  revealed, 
that  we  can  never  be  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  he  would  have  said  or  done  in 
any  circumstances  of  his  life.  And 
whilst  it  may  be,  that  in  the  cautious 
endeavour  to  confine  myself  to  what  is 
authentically    written    in    the    Sacred 


18  SOCIAL  LIFE 

History,  I  may  produce  before  you  a 
feeble  outline,  that  seems  lifeless  and 
barren,  it  becomes  me  still  to  say,  that 
I  have  found  that  my  task  requires 
of  me  far  less  the  effort  of  imagina- 
tion and  the  employment  of  pictorial 
words,  in  painting  eventful  but  unreal 
scenes,  than  that  I  should  repress  a 
teeming  multitude  of  facts  which  start 
forth,  demanding  to  be  used,  in  that 
exemplary  and  instructive  illustration 
which  the  Bible  itself  affords,  of  the 
life — the  early  youth  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth. 

So  far,  therefore,  from  complaining  of 
the  barrenness  of  the  field,  we  may  the 
rather  regret,  that,  in  this  exercise,  we 
can  do  no  more  than  suggest  some  hints 
toward  such  a  history.  That  history 
embraces  such   themes  as  these : — his 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  19 

physical,  mental,  and  moral  endow- 
ments— his  increase  in  years  and  stat- 
ure, and  in  intellectual  acquisitio7is — 
his  impressive  reverence  for  divine  or- 
dinances, and  his  piety  and  obedience 
to  God — his  diligence,  industry,  and 
patience — his  modesty  andjilial  love — 
his  perfect  purity,  and  the  estimation 
in  which  he  was  held  hy  both  God  and 
man. 

Let  us  proceed  under  the  guidance 
of  the  sacred  narrative :  "And  the  child 
grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit,  filled 
with  wisdom :  and  the  grace  of  God  was 
upon  him.  Now  his  parents  went  to 
Jerusalem  every  year  at  the  feast  of  the 
passover.  And  when  he  was  twelve 
years  old,  they  went  up  to  Jerusalem 
after  the  custom  of  the  feast.  And  when 
they  had  fulfilled  the  days,  as  they  re- 


20  SOCIAL  LIFE 

turned,  the  child  Jesus  tarried  behind  in 
Jerusalem;  and  Joseph  and  his  mother 
knew  not  of  it.  But  they,  supposing 
him  to  have  been  in  the  company,  went 
a  day's  journey;  and  they  sought  him 
among  their  kinsfolk  and  acquaintance. 
And  when  they  found  him  not,  they 
turned  back  again  to  Jerusalem,  seeking 
him.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  after 
three  days  they  found  him  in  the  tem- 
ple, sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors, 
both  hearing  them,  and  asking  them 
questions.  And  all  that  heard  him  were 
astonished  at  his  understanding  and  an- 
swers. And  when  they  saw  him,  they 
were  amazed  :  and  his  mother  said  unto 
him,  Son,  why  hast  thou  thus  dealt  with 
us  ?  behold,  thy  father  and  I  have  sought 
thee  sorrowing.  And  he  said  unto  them, 
How  is  it  that  ye  sought  me?  wist  ye 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  21 

not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's 
business  ?  And  they  understood  not  the 
saying  which  he  spake  unto  them.  And 
he  went  down  with  them,  and  came  to 
Nazareth,  and  was  subject  unto  them : 
but  his  mother  kept  all  these  sayings  in 
her  heart.  And  Jesus  increased  in  wis- 
dom and  stature,  and  in  favour  with  God 
and  man." — Luke  ii.  40-52. 

I.  While  we  fully  believe  that  he 
who  was  miraculously  conceived  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  was  the  possessor  of  a  perfectly 
divine  nature,  we  must  not  forget  that 
it  behooved  him  "in  all  things  to  be 
made  like  unto  his  brethren,"  and  that 
he  was  even  subject  to  all  natural  hu- 
man infirmities,  tempted  in  all  points 
hke  as  we  are,  sin  only  excepted. 

"  There  is  only  this  difference  between 
him  and  us,  that  the  weaknesses  which 


22  SOCIAL  LIFE 

press  upon  us,  by  a  necessity  which  we 
cannot  avoid,  were  undertaken  by  him 
voluntarily  and  of  his  own  accord." — 
Calvin. 

He  was  therefore  as  perfectly  human, 
as  he  was  perfectly  divine.  And  this 
fact  will  account  for  all  the  difficulties 
which  have  been  suggested,  on  the 
ground  of  those  characteristics,  actions, 
and  speeches,  which  have  been  alleged 
to  be  inconsistent  with  his  claim  to  be 
equal  with  God;  and  especially  with 
his  being  born  an  infant  of  days,  and 
his  increase  in  age  and  stature  and  wis- 
dom. "If  it  takes  nothing  from  his 
glory  that  he  was  altogether  emptied, 
neither  does  it  degrade  him  that  he 
chose  not  only  to  grow  in  body,  but  to 
make  progress  in  mind." — Calvin. 

How  his  divine  nature  subsisted  in 
connection  with  the  human,  we  do  not 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  23 

inquire ;  nor  even  whether,  as  it  has 
been  conjectured,  it  was  gradually  com- 
municated in  its  effects  and  influences 
on  his  intellectual  powers,  nor  by  what 
process  it  so  operated,  nor  in  what  mea- 
sures. This  only  we  know,  that  "he 
received  in  his  human  nature  according 
to  his  age  and  capacity,  an  increase  of 
the  free  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  that  out  of 
his  fulness  he  may  pour  them  out  upon 
us  ;  for  we  draw  grace  out  of  his  grace." 
— Calvin. 

Omitting  all  vain  and  profitless  con- 
jecture, and  every  misleading  hypothe- 
sis, we  find  enough  in  the  fact,  that  it 
was  because  of  this  union  that  his  mind 
possessed  its  vigour,  capacity  and  clear- 
ness, that  his  penetration  was  so  acute, 
and  his  judgment  so  discriminating  and 
infallible.     Enough  too  for  us  to  know, 


24  SOCIAL  LIFE 

why  it  was  that  he  was  the  pure,  wise 
and  amiable  character  whom  the  gospel 
commends  to  our  reverence,  faith,  and 
love,  while  we  contemplate  him  both  as 
our  Saviour  and  as  our  example,  bear- 
ing and  dignifying  our  nature,  clothed 
in  a  body  like  our  own,  subsisting  amid 
the  ordinary  walks  and  relations  of  hu- 
man hfe,  and  exemplifying  in  their 
highest  possible  perfection,  every  vir- 
tue, duty,  and  grace  that  can  exalt  and 
adorn  our  human  nature. 

It  is  eminent]}'-  then  his  human  na- 
ture, and  his  progress  therein,  concern- 
ing which  the  Evangelist  instructs  us. 

It  were  the  height  of  folly  to  attempt 
any  description  of  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ,  as  child,  youth,  or  man.  Spu- 
rious accounts  were  indeed  early  fabri- 
cated ;  and  poetry,  painting,  and  sculp- 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  25 

ture  have  all  endeavoured  to  set  forth 
his  hnearnents.  The  latter  have  de- 
lighted to  represent  him,  especially  in 
the  agonies  of  the  crucifixion.  And  a 
false  religion,  mad  upon  its  idols,  has 
first  broken,  and  then,  to  conceal  the 
impiety,  has  mutilated  the  command- 
ments of  God,  in  the  fanatical  adoration 
of  its  graven  image  of  Christ  on  the 
cross.  But  instead  of  the  impression 
which  such  unbaptized  piety  would 
thus  make  upon  our  minds,  by  these 
creations  of  unlicensed  genius,  the  eye 
is  pained  by  the  ghastly,  cruel  exhibi- 
tion, and  the  feelings  are  rather  dis- 
gusted than  edified  by  representations 
that  never  can  reach,  and  for  the  most 
part  only  degrade  that  awful  subject. 
And  wherever  the  wayward  and  igno- 
rant fancy  has  portrayed  the  person  ol 
3 


26  SOCIAL  LIFE 

Jesus  as  luminous,  and  his  head  encir- 
cled with  a  halo,  instead  of  enhancing 
our  ideas  of  his  dignity,  it  has  both 
transcended  the  gospel  record  and  the 
obvious  facts,  and  belittled  with  man's 
folly  the  real  majesty  and  grace  with 
which  his  person  was  adorned.  The 
pictures  too  with  which  the  galleries  of 
art  have  been  filled,  of  the  infant,  the 
youth,  and  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  often 
presenting  lineaments  of  great  beauty, 
it  need  hardly  be  said  are  no  portraits, 
and  are  at  best  the  mere  imaginations 
of  painters;  every  failure  adding  to  the 
reasons  which  show  the  folly,  if  not  the 
impiety,  of  making  any  image  or  like- 
ness of  the  Son  of  God. 

Yet,  who  can  doubt  that  his  very 
person  must  have  been  distinguished 
for   physical   excellence.      Pure    and 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  27 

holy,  governed  by  the  laws  of  highest 
reason,  temperate  and  self-denying,  free 
from  all  debasing  appetites,  and  exempt 
from  the  deforming  influences  of  all 
evil  passions,  we  cannot  but  deem  it 
an  embodiment  of  perfect  health.  As 
the  Lamb  of  God  and  the  victim  of  sa- 
crifice, we  read  that  he  was  without 
spot  or  blemish;  and  as  he  was  or- 
dained of  God  to  the  priestly  office — 
of  rank  and  function  superior  to  the 
priests  of  Aaron's  line — the  canonical 
requirem.ents  teach  us  that,  therefore, 
he  must  have  been  free  from  all  physi- 
cal defects.  In  person,  he  must  have 
been  symmetrical,  and  in  countenance, 
he  must  have  exhibited  an  engaging 
comeliness.  It  needs  no  license  of  the 
imagination  to  conceive  of  him,  that  like 
Moses,  he  was  a  "  goodly  child."    The 


28  SOCIAL  LIFE 

passage,  "the  grace  of  God  was  upon 
him,"  has  been  interpreted  on  good 
classical  authority  to  signify  the  beauty 
of  his  person.*  But  it  may  more  pro- 
perly be  understood  of  "  the  excellence 
of  every  description  which  shone  bright- 
ly in  him." 

It  is,  however,  more  to  the  purpose 
to  consider  the  effect  of  that  intellectual 
and  moral  beauty  which  pervaded  his 
soul.  In  these,  he  was  "  fairer  than 
the  sons  of  men."  Not  only  do  we  in- 
stinctively conceive  that  the  body  must 
have  been  in  its  excellence,  the  fitting 
lodgment  of  such  a  soul ;  but  we  know 
also  what  an  influence  is  conveyed 
from  the  inward  man,  and  is  manifested 
in  the  mere  external  features,  and  even 
in  moulding  the  physiognomy.     Grace, 

*  Wetstein — in  Campbell — and  Bloomfield. 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  29 

tenderness,  dignity  and  love,  high 
thought,  and  heavenly  affections  dwelt 
ever  in  his  heart,  spake  through  his 
lips,  swam  in  his  eye,  and  sat  upon 
his  face — expressive  features  mirroring 
the  soul ;  these  lent  a  charm  to  his  very 
person,  and  engaged  the  favour  of  the 
beholder.  And  what  a  countenance 
must  that  have  been,  which  afterwards 
shone  as  the  sun,  and  whose  surpass- 
ing majesty,  long  after  it  had  been  so 
marred  with  many  tears  and  griefs, 
could  still  abash  and  prostrate  the  band 
of  armed  ruffians  that  came  to  appre- 
hend him  in  the  garden.  Nor  is  the 
force  of  this  impression  at  all  weakened, 
even  if  we  transfer  to  his  outward  per- 
son, what  is  said  of  him — that  he  bare 
our  infirmities  and  took  our  sicknesses, 
that  his   visage  was  so  marred   more 


30  SOCIAL  LIFE 

than  any  man,  and  that,  springing  up, 
like  a  root  out  of  dry  ground,  he  was 
without  form  or  comeliness  that  wc 
should  desire  him.  Even  if  we  sup- 
pose the  man  of  sorrows  to  have  had  a 
body,  weak,  diseased,  emaciated,  the 
result  of  his  acquaintance  with  grief; 
we  may,  nevertheless,  consider  the  in- 
fluence upon  his  person  of  his  exalted 
moral  attributes.  His  countenance  bore 
even  in  its  sorrowful  lineaments,  the 
impression  of  his  dignity  patience, 
tenderness,  compassion,  purity,  meek- 
ness, and  sweetness  of  soul ;  and,  but 
to  look  upon  it,  was  to  discern  that 
loveliness  of  mental  and  of  moral 
beauty,  which  so  often  engages  our 
regard  in  the  daily  experience  of  life, 
even  for  persons,  whose  plain  and 
homely  features  we  forget,  in  the  su- 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  31 

perior  charm  of  lofty  intellect  and  vir- 
tuous soul. 

II.  As  he  grew  up,  increasing  in  age 
and  stature,  he  developed  that  perfection 
of  mental  qualities  with  which  he  was 
divinely  endowed.  The  expressions  of 
theEvano^elist  refer  to  the  natural  viorour 
of  his  understanding,  and  the  attain- 
ments of  wisdom  and  knowledge  with 
which  it  was  furnished.  His  mind 
was  strong  and  capacious.  Its  powers 
are  evinced  by  all  those  acts  of  pru- 
dence, and  by  the  various  sayings, 
wherewith  he  confounded  the  subtlety 
of  his  captious  foes,  and  by  all  the  gra- 
cious and  holy  instructions  in  truth  and 
duty,  and  that  prevailing  eloquence 
and  authority  with  which  his  ministry 
abounded.  But  he  was,  nevertheless, 
born  and  grew  as  a  child :  he  did  not 


32  SOCIAL  LIFE 

spring  forth  from  his  birth  a  speaking 
prodigy,  nor  burst  upon  the  astonished 
world  in  the  full  perfection  of  his  na- 
tive s^enius.  It  was  throucrh  the  ordi- 
nary  process  of  growth,  assisted  indeed 
by  the  divine  inspirations  of  his  god- 
head, yet  still  by  degrees,  and  by  the 
needful  discipline  of  instruction,  read- 
ing, and  meditation,  that  he  attained  and 
manifested  his  fulness  of  wisdom.  As 
to  the  particular  elements  of  his  in- 
tellectual stores,  it  would  be  imperti- 
nent trifling  to  attempt  detail.  During 
his  ministry,  he  spake  of  some  things 
which  were  reserved  even  from  him, 
though  he  were  the  Son.  This  of  itself 
is  no  disparagement  of  His  Omnisci- 
ence, when  we  remember  that  he  had 
a  human  soul,  and  that  as  mediator  he 
was,  in  a  very  important  sense,  subordi- 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  33 

nate  to  the  Father.  And  this  very  re- 
serve, I  incline  to  think,  is  but  official, 
and  has  reference  rather  to  the  func- 
tion of  making  known,  than  to  his  own 
proper  acquaintance  with  the  things 
themselves.  It  was  no  part  of  his 
ministry  to  instruct  men  in  those  par- 
ticular things. 

But  it  is  evident  that  his  mind  was 
developed  early,  and  its  progress  in 
wisdom  extraordinary.  His  acquaint- 
ance with  divine  truth  was  apparent, 
not  only  when  in  the  exercise  of  his 
ministry,  the  Jews  exclaimed,  "  Whence 
hath  this  man  wisdom  ?"  but  in  that  re- 
markable interview,  when,  at  twelve 
years  of  age,  he  sat  in  the  midst  of  the 
doctors  in  the  temple,  both  hearing 
them  and  asking  them  questions ;  and 
all  that  heard  him  were  astonished  at 


34  SOCIAL  LIFE 

his  understanding  and  answers.  Of 
this  interview,  by  the  way,  a  most  im- 
proper idea  is  presented  by  some  pic- 
tures, and  even  by  some  commentators, 
as  if  Jesus  assumed  the  place  of  a 
teacher  on  this  occasion,  and  disputed 
with  the  doctors.  Nothing  more  took 
place  than  was  common.  It  was  cus- 
tomary for  these  public  instructors  to 
sit  upon  elevated  benches,  and  their 
disciples  sat  at  their  feet,  while  a  very 
free  conversation  took  place  between 
the  teachers  and  the  learners,  and 
knowledge  was  communicated  by  the 
former  in  the  way  of  question  and  an- 
swer, mutually  propounded,  after  our 
method  of  catechising,  or  perhaps  more 
probably,  the  familiar  mode  which  pre- 
vails in  our  intelligent  Bible  classes. 
This  was  the  modest  attitude  of  Jesus, 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  35 

as  he  heard,  and  asked  questions  and 
answered.  The  scene  exhibits  him  to 
us  as  a  diligent  inquirer  after  know- 
ledge— not  relying,  as  inferior  but  vain 
minds  do,  on  gaining  knowledge  with- 
out study  ;  but  it  shows  us  also  how 
his  thoughts  had  been  exercised  ;  and 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that,  like 
David,  he  already  evinced  more  under- 
standing than  his  teachers.  Of  the 
themes  of  inquiry,  we  may  be  sure 
that  they  related  to  divine  truth ;  and 
though  there  may  have  been  no  for- 
wardness on  his  part  to  contradict  these 
men,  who  were  notorious  corrupters  of 
the  word  of  God,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  his  modest  questions  were  of  such 
a  character  as  sorely  to  press  upon  the 
dogmatic  haughtiness,  which  afterward 
he  so  sharply  confronted  and  humbled. 


36  SOCIAL  LIFE 

giving  even  then  a  specimen  of  what 
he  would  be,  when  he  should  teach 
with  authority,  and  the  common  people 
would  hear  him  gladly,  and  it  should 
be  acknowledged  that  a  great  prophet 
is  risen  in  Israel.  Even  in  those  early 
days  was  that  prediction  accomplished, 
"that  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  should  rest 
upon  him,  as  the  spirit  of  counsel  and 
of  might,  of  wisdom  and  of  knowledge, 
to  make  him  of  quick  understanding  in 
the  fear  of  the  Lord.'* 

I  proceed  to  notice  some  particulars 
illustrating  his  moral  characteristics. 

in.  His  piety  and  devotion  may  be 
illustrated  by  the  circumstances  of  his 
attendance  at  the  temple  when  he  was 
twelve  years  of  age,  and  there  mani- 
fested his  regard  for  the  worship  of 
God,  and  his  reverence  for  divine  ordi- 
nances. 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  37 

Although  neither  Joseph  nor  Mary 
seems  to  have  clearly  understood  the 
distinguished  lot  which  awaited  him, 
yet  of  this  we  are  sure,  that  he  himself 
was  fully  aware  of  it;  and  that  his  pa- 
rents faithfully  trained  him  in  the  nur- 
ture and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  while 
he  gave  himself  to  patient  and  diligent 
preparation  for  his  future  work.  At 
Nazareth,  his  opportunities,  beyond  the 
domestic  threshold,  were  probably  few ; 
and,  if  we  may  adopt  the  inferences 
concerning  the  character  of  the  place, 
suggested  by  the  disparaging  estimate 
in  which  it  was  held,  (John  i.  46)  the 
disadvantages  of  his  situation  were  very 
great.  For  parental  fidelity  might  be 
counteracted  by  surrounding  evil  ex- 
ample, and  even  diminished  by  the 
temptation   of  their   circumstances,  to 


38  SOCIAL  LIFE 

relax  in  their  own  duty.  But  we 
know  that  there  w^as  a  Synagogue 
there,  for  Jesus  preached  in  it  after- 
wards, and  how  astonished  its  attend- 
ants must  have  been  when  they  saw 
him  with  whose  childhood  and  youth 
they  had  been  so  familiar,  stand  up  to 
declare  the  fulfilment  in  his  own  per- 
son of  the  tender  and  beautiful  predic- 
tion respecting  the  character  and  work 
of  the  Messiah.  He  was  doubtless  an 
habitual  worshipper  there;  and  such 
parents  as  Joseph,  his  reputed  father, 
and  iNIary  his  mother — so  favoured 
with  divine  communications,  and  en- 
trusted with  such  a  charge — so  exem- 
plary and  so  observant  of  the  law — 
were  not  careless  to  impart  religious 
instruction  to  this  extraordinary  child, 
to  make  him  familiar  with  the  word  of 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  39 

God,  and  to  form  his  youthful  habits  of 
prayer  and  meditation. 

Their  fidehty  to  their  high  trust, 
amply  discharged  at  home,  is  apparent 
also  in  their  taking  him  up  with  them 
to  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  Thither 
the  males  of  Israel  were  obliged  to 
resort  three  times  a  year.  The  visit  of 
the  females  was  altogether  voluntary. 
And  it  was  customary  also  to  take  the 
children  upon  arriving  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years,  at  which  time  they  were 
supposed  to  be  of  sufficient  discretion 
to  be  introduced  into  the  church,  and 
initiated  into  the  doctrines  and  ceremo- 
nies of  religion. 

The  visit  of  Joseph  and  Mary  to  the 
great  festival  upon  this  occasion,  was  a 
labour  of  love.  It  is  evident,  too,  that 
those   who  came  from  a   distance  tra- 


40  SOCIAL  LIFE 

veiled  in  companies,  and  thus  they 
solaced  the  toils  of  the  way  with  the 
comforts  of  social  intercourse,  and  in 
"singing  the  songs  of  Zion  during  the 
pilgrimage. 

It  was  in  all  probability  the  first  time 
of  Jesus  accompanying  them — and  we 
find  him  solicitous  to  improve  the  oppor- 
tunity. Although  the  services  of  the  fes- 
tival continued  through  seven  days,  he 
exhibits  no  weariness — no  impatience  to 
be  gone.  Ah  !  how  unlike  that  restless- 
ness— not  of  youth  only — which  is  so 
common,  with  respect  to  the  exercises  of 
the  sanctuary.  What  a  weariness  to 
them  is  the  Sabbath,  and  what  an 
atrocious  ofl^ence  is  it,  that  in  the  exposi- 
tion of  the  gospel,  the  minister  is  so  in- 
discreet as  to  tax  their  patience  some- 
times for  a  whole  hour  !    The  youthful 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  41 

Jesus  loved  the  Lord's  house.  Though 
possessed  of  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge,  he  desired  like  David  to 
dwell  in  the  courts  of  the  sanctuary,  to 
behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  to 
inquire  in  his  temple.  While  then,  his 
parents  depart,  he  remains  behind  ; — 
and  still,  until  the  third  day  after,  he 
maintains  his  post  of  religious  medita- 
tion and  research  into  those  things  which 
had  been  shadowed  forth  in  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  paschal  festival.  His 
parents  in  the  meanwhile  do  not  at  first 
miss  him  from  their  company  :  it  was 
not  carelessness  on  their  part,  but  they 
supposed  him  to  be  with  their  friends 
and  kinsmen.  This  supposition  sug- 
gests to  us  the  social,  companionable 
temper  of  Jesus.  Neither  ascetic  nor 
recluse,  he  mingled  with  men,  and  by 
4 


42  SOCIAL  LIFE 

his  own  example,  sanctions,  as  he  ever 
adorned,  the  social,  friendly  intercourse 
of  life.  But  not  finding  him  where  they 
first  sought,  his  parents  retrace  their 
way  to  Jerusalem  with  a  heavy,  anxious 
heart ; — a  second  day  is  consumed  in 
their  journey.  Their  fears  arose  from 
no  misgiving  as  to  his  deportment ;  they 
sorrowed  not  with  any  apprehension  of 
wilful  truancy  or  misspent  time  in  evil 
companionship.  They  knew  him  too 
well  for  that.  Other  evils  were  dreaded. 
Perhaps  they  thought  of  the  persecu- 
tion of  his  infant  years,  and  feared  some 
renewal  of  that  danger ;  or  it  might  he 
that  straying  from  the  caravan,  some 
evil  beast  had  destroyed  him.  They 
find  him  where  they  naturally  sought 
him  ;  for  it  is  far  less  likely  that  they 
made  much  search  elsewhere,  than  that 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  43 

they  went  at  once  to  the  temple.  For- 
getting, for  the  moment,  to  consider 
what  import  there  was  in  the  scene 
which  met  her  eyes  when  she  saw  him 
in  the  midst  of  the  doctors ;  yet  over- 
joyed for  his  recovery,  Marj''  puts  no 
restraint  upon  her  gushing  emotions : 
the  tender  anxieties  of  a  mother's  heart 
burst  forth : — "  Son,  why  hast  thou  thus 
dealt  with  us  ?"  If  in  the  reply  to  this 
expostulation,  there  appears  to  be  some- 
thing of  rebuke — "How  is  it  that  ye 
sought  me  ;  wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be 
about  my  Father's  business  ?" — it  may 
be  justified  at  once,  not  only  by  remem- 
bering that  with  the  dutifulness  of  a 
son,  he  hastens  to  explain,  and  so  to  re- 
lieve her  anxiety,  but  that  he  appeals  to 
the  superior  duty  which  he  owed  to  his 
heavenly  Father.     Urgent  and  impres- 


44  SOCIAL  LIFE 

sive  as  are  the  claims  of  earthly  parents, 
they  are  still  subordinate  to  the  claims 
of  God.  If  worldly  parents  would  com- 
mand an  obedience  incompatible  with 
the  duties  of  piety,  children  are  absolved 
from  compliance.  And  when  the  rulers 
of  this  world  required  the  Apostles  to 
refrain  from  preaching  the  gospel,  they 
replied,  "  Whether  it  be  right  to  obey 
God  rather  than  men,  judge  ye." 

Such  was  Christ's  reverence  for  re- 
ligious duty  at  that  early  age.  The 
incident  reveals  to  us,  his  pious  training 
— his  love  of  devotion  and  prayer — his 
delight  in  religious  worship — and  his 
controlling  sense  of  the  duty  he  owed 
to  God. — "He  must  be  about  his  Fa- 
ther's business."  "He  must  be  at  his 
Father's  house."  His  whole  life  em- 
bodied  this    sentiment.      For   this    he 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  45 

emptied  himself  of  the  glory  which 
he  had  with  his  Father  before  the  world 
was ;  left  his  high  throne  and  the 
abodes  of  the  blessed;  became  an  in- 
habitant of  this  low  world,  assumed  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  took  upon 
him  a  servant's  form  ;  for  this  he  sub- 
mitted to  poverty,  toil,  suffering  and 
reproach ;  for  this  he  never  turned 
aside  in  weariness  and  disgust ;  it  wa& 
his  meat  and  his  drink  to  do  his  Father's 
will;  his  zeal  for  this  absorbed  his 
energies  and  his  time ;  in  days  of  ex- 
hausting labour,  in  whole  nights  of 
prayer — by  the  sea-shore  and  in  the 
desert — on  the  summits  of  the  moun- 
tains, and  in  the  public  thoroughfares 
— in  humble  villages,  in  the  city,  and  in 
the  temple — this  was  his  business. 
And  at  last,  when  the  active  depart- 


46  SOCIAL  LIFE 

ments  of  that  business  were  completed, 
he  declared,  "I  have  finished  the  work 
which  thou  gavest  me  to  do;"  and 
shortly  afterward,  having  ended  all  that 
he  was  to  endure  and  suffer,  he  ex- 
claimed, "It  is  finished  ;"  and  gave  up 
the  ghost. 

And  let  it  not  be  forgotten,  that  this 
devoted  obedience  is  enhanced  by  the 
fact  that  he  had  ever  before  his  mind,  a 
full  view  of  all  the  pains  and  suflierings 
which  were  appointed  to  him.  When, 
in  heaven,  he  undertook  the  work  of 
human  redemption,  he  knew  that  a 
body  was  prepared  for  him  for  this  very 
purpose,  and  he  declared,  "Behold,  I 
come;  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is 
written  of  me:  I  delight  to  do  thy  will, 
O  my  God." 

Now,  were  there  revealed  to  us  at 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  47 

our  birth,  a  vision  of  all  the  scenes 
through  which  we  are  to  pass  in  human 
life,  the  new-born  infant  would  shrink 
from  its  coming  existence,  and  prefer, 
to  its  inheritance  of  evil  and  sorrow,  the 
boon  of  dying  as  soon  as  it  opened  its 
eyes  upon  this  world. 

Such  a  vision  Jesus  had.  In  all  the 
years  of  his  conscious  existence,  he  saw 
plainly  through  what  scenes  he  must 
pass.  He  bore  about  continually  in  his 
body,  his  dying,  and  all  the  anticipa- 
tion of  the  forms  of  grief  which  had 
been  marked  out  for  him  to  endure. 
Nothing  came  upon  him,  as  it  were,  by 
surprise,  and  as  it  is  with  us.  It  was 
ever  present  to  his  thoughts,  and  laid 
upon  his  heart;  and  he  was  even  strait- 
ened till  his  baptism  of  suffering  should 
be  accomplished.     Whether  it  were  by 


48  SOCIAL  LIFE 

night  or  by  day,  whether  it  were  in 
converse  with  his  friends  or  at  the  fes- 
tive board,  (Mark  xiv.  8),  or  amid  the 
glory  of  the  transfiguration,  (Luke  ix. 
31,)  he  never  forgot  for  a  moment,  the 
cup  whose  ingredients  he  knew,  and 
the  decease  which  he  should  accom- 
plish at  Jerusalem.  Yet  though  he 
foresaw  all  his  coming  sorrows,  he  never 
shrunk  from  encountering  them.  Once, 
indeed,  when  the  direst  of  all  was  near 
at  hand,  he  prayed,  "  Father  save  me 
from  this  hour;"  but  immediately  added, 
"Yet  for  this  cause  came  I  unto  this 
hour.  Father,  glorify  thy  name,  thy 
will  be  done."  Here  was  submission  ; 
not  only  when  the  trial  came,  but  when 
he  looked  through  the  long  perspective 
of  his  predicted  sufferings.  This  was 
obedience,  indeed.  Truly,  this  man 
was  the  Son  of  God. 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  49 

IV.  But  with  this  supreme  devotion 
to  the  will  of  God,  and  this  exemplary 
regard  for  the  duties  of  religion,  there 
was  no  failure  on  his  part,  in  the  duties 
he  owed  to  his  parents.  There  is  no 
proper  room  for  collision  between  these 
respective  obligations.  And  right  obe- 
dience is  rendered  to  neither,  unless  it 
be  rendered  to  both.  His  business  in 
the  temple  concluded,  Jesus  forthwith 
returned  with  his  parents  to  Nazareth, 
and  was  subject  unto  them.  In  this  he 
manifested  his  reverence  for  their  per- 
sons, submission  to  their  authority,  and 
zeal  in  testifying  his  love  for  them. 

In  these  evil  days  of  precocious  inde- 
pendence, how  many  affect  to  despise  a 
father's  counsels  and  a  mother's  anxie- 
ties, as  the  effusions  of  dotard  bigotry 
that  has  outgrown  and  forgotten  its  sym- 
5 


50  SOCIAL  LIFE 

pathies  with  the  season  of  youth.  Many 
alas!  are  like  that  unhappy  prodigal, 
who  said,  "Give  me  the  portion  of 
goods  that  falleth  to  my  share  ;"  impa- 
tient to  escape  from  the  restraints  of 
home,  and  to  indulge  themselves  in 
riotous  living. 

Many  are  impatient  to  enter  upon 
their  inheritance,  though  they  know  it 
can  only  be  by  the  death  of  the  too  long 
lived  progenitor.  Many  cast  off  all  alle- 
giance and  incur  God's  curse  against 
rebellious  offspring.  Many  reject  the 
obligations  of  filial  assistance,  and  self- 
ishly pander  to  their  own  appetites, 
w^hile  they  can  suffer  those  who  begat 
them  to  pine  in  neglected  poverty. 
Many  by  evil  courses  bring  down  the 
gray  hairs  of  heart-broken  parents  with 
sorrow  to  the  grave.    How  beautiful  the 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  51 

contrast,  in  the  early  life  of  Jesus,  who 
neither  renounced  nor  despised  his  pa- 
rents, on  account  of  his  superior  abili- 
ties, but  did  homage  to  the  womb  that 
bare  him,  and  to  him  whom  he  knew 
to  be  but  his  reputed  father,  and  who 
had  protected  his  helpless  infancy.  It 
would  be  delightful  to  go  into  detail, 
and  dwell  upon  the  recorded  instances 
of  his  beautiful  fihal  piety.  It  is  im- 
portant to  notice  one  instance  which 
shows  us  how  it  was  manifested,  and 
how  long  it  continued.  It  is  evident 
(Mark  vi.  3,)  not  only  that  he  was  the 
son  of  a  carpenter,  but  that  he  followed 
the  occupation  himself,  for  he  was  re- 
proached with  it  when  he  entered  upon 
his  ministry.  It  was  indeed  the  cus- 
tom of  the  Jews  to  give  to  their  sons 
some  mechanical  trade,  and  it  was  a 


52  SOCIAL  LIFE 

matter  of  reproach  to  a  young  man  not 
to  have  been  so  brought  up.  Solon 
enacted  that  children  who  did  not  main- 
tain their  parents  in  old  age,  when  in 
want,  should  be  branded  with  infamy, 
and  lose  the  privilege  of  citizens ;  he, 
however,  excepted  from  the  rule  those 
children  whom  their  parents  had  taught 
no  trade,  nor  provided  with  other  means 
of  procuring  a  livelihood:  and  it  w^as  a 
proverb  of  the  Jews  that,  he  who  did 
not  bring  up  his  son  to  a  trade,  brought 
him  up  as  a  thief.  But  in  the  case  of 
Jesus,  it  is  but  reasonable  to  believe 
that  he  pursued  this  occupation  for  his 
own  support,  and  for  the  help  of  his 
parents;  and  that  it  was  by  this  means 
he  provided  for  the  support  of  Mary  and 
her  family,  after  the  death  of  Joseph, 
before  he  entered  upon  his  public  life. 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  53 

In  this  fact,  we  see  the  diligence  and 
industry  of  his  private  life,  and  with 
what  modest  patience  he  abode  in  seclu- 
sion for  thirty  years,  until  the  appointed 
time  came  for  engaging  in  the  work  of 
his  public  ministry,  a  fact  which  might 
be  contemplated  with  advantage  by  those 
who,  devoting  themselves  to  this  office, 
hasten  but  half  furnished  to  the  service 
of  the  altar,  as  if  the  Lord  had  need  of 
their  neophyte  impatience  and  zealous 
incompetence.  Our  Lord  thus  dignified 
an  humble  station,  and  commends  to  us 
with  honour  the  useful  and  respectable 
employments  of  mechanic  industry  and 
honourable  toil  in  the  laborious  callings 
of  human  life;  while  his  example  may 
teach  men,  both  contentment  with  a  less 
prominent  condition,  and  how  they  may 
serve  God  in  their  callings.   And  when, 


54  SOCIAL  LIFE 

as  was  the  case  with  him,  ignorant  and 
foolish  men  give  no  honour  to  a  minis- 
ter because  he  has  risen  from  the  work- 
bench or  the  plough,  if  he  be  but  apt 
to  teach  and  is  faithful  to  his  work,  he 
may  rather  glory  to  be  associated  with 
Paul  the  tent-maker,  and  with  him  of 
whom  they  said,  "Is  not  this  the  car- 
penter?" 

In  this  state  of  subjection  to  his 
parents  he  continued,  honouring  and 
dwelling  with  them  while  Joseph  lived, 
and  afterwards  with  Mary,  till  his 
entrance  on  the  Mediatorial  functions. 
Nor  did  he  ever  outgrow  his  youthful 
tenderness.  "  When  he  went  about 
doing  good,"  the  remembrance  of  a 
desolate  and  widowed  mother  attended 
him ;  and  when  he  was  finishing  his 
course,  "Love  was  stronger  than  death, 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  55 

and  would  do  its  friendly  offices  amidst 
the  agonies  of  a  crucifixion."  How, 
and  what  provision  was  made  for  her 
during  his  triennial  ministry,  is  not 
written ;  but  we  know  what  legacy 
was  appointed  for  her  in  his  last  will 
and  testament.  In  the  bitterness  of  his 
anguish,  he  compassionated  her  condi- 
tion as  well  as  her  grief;  and  when  he 
could  no  longer  think  of  her  in  person, 
he  found  out  a  proxy  to  supply  his 
room  and  his  affections.  For  while  he 
hung  upon  his  cross,  seeing  his  mother 
and  the  disciple  standing  by  whom  he 
loved,  he  saith  unto  his  mother,  "Wo- 
man, behold  thy.  Son  ;"  and  to  the  dis- 
ciple, "Behold  thy  mother."  Thus 
mutually  recommending  the  beloved 
John  to  her  love  as  one  that  would 
thenceforward  perform   the   duty  of  a 


56  SOCIAL  LIFE 

son,  and  her  to  his  care  and  protection 
as  one  that  should  henceforth  be  to  him 
as  a  beloved  mother.  And  from  that 
hour  the  dwelling  of  John  became  the 
home  of  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and 
she  found  an  honoured  refuge  there. 

V.  I  have  spoken  of  the  singular 
purity  and  holiness  of  the  character  ot 
Jesus.  This  indeed  belongs  to  his 
whole  career.  And  it  is  worthy  of 
especial  notice  in  this  connection,  not 
only  in  order  that  we  may  feel  the 
proper  impression  which  it  ought  to 
make,  but  as  it  serves  to  qualify  all 
those  characteristics  of  piety  and  obe- 
dience for  which  his  early  life  was  dis- 
tinguished;  and  in  this  relation,  it  be- 
comes as  instructive  on  the  points  before 
us,  as  any  recorded  particular  of  his 
childhood  and  early  life. 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  57 

We  are  in  the  habit  of  speaking  of 
the  innocence  of  childhood,  and  the 
guileless  sincerity  of  youth  ;  but  who 
knows  not,  feels  not,  that  these  are  but 
comparative.  Alas  !  is  not  folly  (sin) 
bound  up  in  the  heart  of  a  child  ;  and 
which  of  us  has  not  reason  to  deplore 
his  own  waywardness,  and  to  intreat 
for  the  pardon  of  the  sins  of  his  youth  ? 
But  when  we  contemplate  the  life  of 
Jesus,  we  see  a  model  of  purity,  born 
without  the  taint  of  corruption,  and  to 
his  last  hour  entirely  without  sin.  Naj^ 
by  his  intimate  contact  with  divinity, 
his  holiness  was  superhuman,  even 
though  it  be  compared  with  the  un- 
fallen  Adam.  There  is  none  holy  as 
the  Lord.  Do  we  always  take  in  the 
full  force  of  his  immaculate  sinlessness? 
There   have   been   good   men   on   the 


58  SOCIAL  LIFE 

earth,  but  theirs  was  at  best  the  imper- 
fect goodness  of  a  fallen  nature  but 
partly  sanctified.  Abraham  was  the 
father  of  the  faithful,  and  the  friend  of 
God,  and  yet  he  falls  into  dissimula- 
tion. Moses  was  a  faithful  servant  of 
God,  and  the  meekest  of  men,  and 
yet  he  dies  within  sight  of  the  pro- 
mised land  for  not  honouring  the  Lord 
in  the  presence  of  Israel,  and  for  ex- 
hibiting the  intemperate  transports  of 
passion.  Davnd  was  the  man  after 
God's  own  heart,  yet  the  brightness 
of  his  history  is  stained  with  the  mel- 
ancholy marks  of  his  foul  and  dread- 
ful fall.  Paul  was  a  wonderful  example 
of  holy  zeal  and  labour  for  the  cause  of 
God,  yet  he  too  was  subject  to  con- 
flicts with  the  flesh,  and  cries  out,  "O 
wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  de- 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  59 

liver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?" 
And  John  was  the  beloved  disciple,  on 
whose  bosom  Jesus  leaned,  yet  there 
was  an  occasion  when  he  was  rebuked 
for  angry  and  intemperate  zeal ;  and  he 
tells  us  himself,  that  "if  we  say  we 
have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and 
the  truth  is  not  in  us."  Alas  !  we  are 
by  nature  the  children  of  Avrath — and 
our  goodness  is  at  the  best  alloyed,  and 
far  from  perfect.  But  there  is  abso- 
lutely nothing  of  this  in  the  man  Christ 
Jesus.  He  was  born  "  that  holy  thing." 
Satan  found  nothing  in  him.  He  was 
"  without  sin."  He  was  "  holy,  harm- 
less, undefiled,  and  separate  from  sin- 
ners." He  was  emphatically,  "  the 
holy  child  Jesus." 

And  what  make  we  of  all  this  in  him, 
who  was  made  of  a  woman,  and  made 


60  SOCIAL  LIFE 

under  the  law  ?  It  is  not  human  for  a 
being  of  our  race  to  be  thus  holy.  It 
surpasses  every  proper  conception  of 
the  character  of  the  children  of  Adam. 
But  Jesus  appears  with  a  lustre  of  holi- 
ness, that  is  not  human ;  that  is  all  di- 
vine. Was  he,  could  he  be  a  mere  man  ? 
No !  He  was  what  he  claimed  to  be, 
the  Son  of  the  Highest,  who  being  in  the 
form  of  God,  thought  it  no  robbery  to  be 
equal  with  God  :  but  he  made  himself 
of  no  reputation  ;  emptied  himself  of 
his  glory,  and  took  upon  him  the  form 
of  a  servant — a  station  in  which  every 
creature  is  placed  by  the  bare  fact  of  his 
creation — but  he  took  upon  him  the 
form  of  a  servant ;  therefore  he  is  no 
creature,  therefore,  he  is  the  Creator, 
God  over  all, and  blessed  for  ever;  and 
being  found  in  fashion  as   a  man,  he 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  61 

humbled  himself  and  became  obedient 
even  unto  death  ;  though  he  were  a  son, 
learning  obedience  by  the  things  which 
he  suffered. 

What  a  character  must  he  have  been 
even  in  his  childhood  !  In  all  circum- 
stances exhibiting  entire  freedom  from 
every  external  transgression,  and  entire 
and  unswerving  obedience  to  every  claim 
of  duty.  And  his  outward  life  was  but 
the  expression  and  the  transcript  of  his 
pure  and  holy  soul.  No  unhallowed 
thought  ever  found  entertainment  in  his 
mind;  no  irregular  desire  or  vengeful 
passion  ever  stirred  up  emotion  in  his 
heart ;  no  motions  of  sins  agitated  his 
members ;  no  principle  or  purpose  of 
selfishness  ever  controlled  his  conduct. 
If  we  might  imagine  him,  amid  the 
usual  employments  of  childhood ;    we 


02  SOCIAL  LIFE 

should  see  no  fretful  impatience,  no  pe- 
tulant caprice.  If  we  contemplate  him 
amid  the  shades  of  domestic  life,  we 
should  see  no  froward  perverseness,  no 
rebellious  opposition  to  parental  claims, 
nor  any  reluctance  toward  the  duties 
they  commanded  ;  for  him  no  sigh  was 
ever  extorted  from  his  father's  heart, 
and  over  him  that  mother  never  found 
cause  to  shed  a  single  tear.  If  we  sur- 
vey him  in  his  intercourse  with  his  fel- 
low-men, we  should  hear  no  angry  word, 
nor  see  any  departure  from  the  beauti- 
ful simplicity,  modesty, gentleness,  good- 
ness, and  grace,  which  we  instinctively 
ascribe  to  him.  Wherever  we  behold 
him,  he  is  the  same  tender,  patient, 
loving,  pious,  and  amiable  being  that 
afterward  went  about  doing  good,  and 
at  last  died  the  just  for  the  unjust  that 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  63 

he  mifTht  brins^  us  to  God.  Grace  was 
poured  upon  his  hps  ;  wisdom  sat  en- 
throned in  his  heart ;  the  strength  of  his 
understanding,  and  the  clearness  of  his 
conscience  were  never  defiled  and  never 
impaired  by  any  corrupt  and  degrading 
bias.  Oh,  what  a  childhood — what  a 
youth — what  a  manhood  was  this.  Was 
it  not  worthy  to  attract  and  fix  upon  it 
for  ever,  the  admiration  and  the  delight 
of  both  God  and  man  ! 


And  this  now,  is  an  example  for  us, 
O !  when  we  look  upon  it,  how  it 
humbles  us  in  the  dust.  Let  all 
parents  ponder  these  things  in  their 
hearts  as  Mary  did,  and  learn  from 
them  how  they  should  care  for  the 
religious  instruction  of  their  children ; 


64  SOCIAL  LIFE 

let  them  both  exemplify,  and  train  them 
to  piety,  making  them  your  companions, 
in  the  ordinances  of  the  sanctuary. 
No  parents,  indeed  can  hope  for  such  a 
son  as  Mary's.  Yet  let  them  never- 
theless consider  what  their  offspring 
may  become,  if  through  turning  your 
hearts  unto  your  children,  your  child- 
ren's hearts  be  turned  unto  you,  as 
heirs  of  like  precious  faith,  as  heirs 
together  of  the  grace  of  life.  They 
shall  be  blessed,  and  become  a  blessing 
to  the  world.  And,  honoured  of  heaven 
and  earth,  their  piety  shall  turn  to 
your  joy  and  praise ;  for  blessings 
shall  be  invoked  on  the  womb  that 
bare  them,  and  upon  the  breasts  that 
nourished  their  infancy. 

But  especially  does  this  private  life 
of  Christ  demand  the  consideration  of 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  65 

the  young.     Behold  the  youthful  Jesus 
and  strive  to  be  like  him. 

"Be  not  children  in  understanding, 
nevertheless  be  children  in  malice  but 
in  understanding  be  men."  Imitate 
the  diligence  of  Jesus  in  the  improve- 
ment of  time,  and  in  gaining  divine 
wisdom  amid  the  humble  domestic  and 
and  mechanical  employments  in  which 
he  was  brought  up.  If,  turning  away 
from  the  allurements  of  frivolous  dis- 
sipation, and  redeeming  your  unem- 
ployed hours  from  listless  sloth  and 
idle  waste,  you  set  yourselves  to  the 
improvement  of  the  mind  and  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  heart,  yours  shall  be 
the  possession  of  that  wisdom  whose 
ways  are  pleasantness  and  all  her  paths 
are  peace.  As  3''0u  grow  then  in 
years,  seek  also  to  grow  in  grace,  and 
6 


66  SOCIAL  LIFE 

in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  shall  it  be 
yours,  to  be  honoured  by  all  the  pious 
on  earth,  and  at  last  to  be  a  gem  in 
that  celestial  galaxy,  where  they  that 
be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness 
of  the  firmament  and  as  the  stars  for 
ever  and  ever. 

Contemplate  also  his  reverence  for 
his  parents  and  for  superiors — his  con- 
tentment and  usefulness  in  an  humble 
sphere,  until  the  appointed  time  came 
for  his  advancement  to  a  more  public 
station — his  modesty,  and  gentleness, 
and  moderation,  and  quietness,  "  who 
neither  strove,  nor  cried,  neither  Avas 
his  voice  heard  in  the  streets,"  and  even 
in  the  temple,  when  his  superior  wis- 
dom could  not  be  all  concealed  from 
the  astonished   ears  of  the  spectators. 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  67 

Still  occupying  the  learner's  place — and 
thus  teaching  us  to  reverence  the  lesson, 
that  days  should  speak  and  multitude 
of  years  teach  wisdom.  Instead  of  the 
presumption  and  the  pride,  the  froward- 
ness  and  insubordination  to  which 
youth  too  much  incline,  and  which 
none  can  admire  and  love,  follow  rather 
the  venerable  example  of  Him,  who 
though  he  w^as  the  greatest,  the  best, 
and  wisest  of  beings,  invites  us  thus, 
"Learn  of  me,  for  I  am  meek  and 
lowly  of  heart." 

And  consider  farther  the  forcefulness 
of  such  an  example  of  youthful  piety. 
How  many  of  the  young  deem  them- 
selves too  young  to  be  religious,  and 
even  contemn  the  obligations  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  worship  of  God's 
house.      They   grow  in   age  and  sta- 


68  SOCIAL  LIFE 

ture,  but  not  in  wisdom,  neither  in  fa- 
vour with  God  or  man ;  while  their  pre- 
cocious impieties  reveal  to  us  nothing 
but  prognostics  of  an  evil  life  and  a 
dreadful  end.  "Come  ye  children," 
hearken  unto  me,  I  will  teach  you  the 
fear  of  the  Lord.  What  man  is  he 
that  desireth  life,  and  loveth  many  days, 
that  he  may  see  good  ?  Keep  thy 
tongue  from  evil  and  thy  lips  from 
speaking  guile.  Depart  from  evil  and 
do  good  ;  seek  peace  and  pursue  it. 
The  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  upon  the 
righteous,  and  his  ears  are  open  unto 
their  cry.  The  face  of  the  Lord  is 
against  them  that  do  evil,  to  cut  off  the 
remembrance  of  them  from  the  earth." 
Remember  your  Creator  in  the  days  of 
your  youth. 

If  He,  who  was  "  the  brifrhtness  of 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  69 

the  Father's  glory,  and  the  express 
image  of  his  person,"  has  condescended 
to  become  an  example  of  our  duty,  and 
to  illustrate  it  in  his  own  life,  what 
added  obligations  rest  upon  us  in  this 
fact. 

And  say  not,  "  this  is  too  high,  we 
cannot  attain  unto  it,  and  therefore  it  is 
vain  to  propose  to  us  such  a  model." 
This  does  not  exempt  us  from  striving 
to  be  follovv-ers,  (imitators)  of  God  as 
dear  children, — from  aspiring  after  con- 
formity to  the  image  of  his  Son.  On 
the  contrary,  he  has  shown  us  what 
human  nature  is  capable  of  becoming, 
under  the  influence  of  divine  grace 
He  left  us  an  example.  He  has  done 
more.  He  came  to  lift  our  feet  from  the 
miry  clay  and  from  the  horrible  pit. 


70  SOCIAL  LIFE 

By  his  Spirit,  you  can  be  created  anew 
in  Christ  Jesus.  By  repentance  and 
faith,  you  may  feel  that  his  blood 
cleanseth  from  all  sin,  and  purges  the 
conscience  from  dead  works,  to  serve  the 
living  and  true  God.  Receive  him, 
then,  as  he  is  offered  to  you  in  the  gos- 
pel, and  you  shall  receive  power  also  to 
become  the  sons  of  God ;  and  if  sons, 
then  heirs,  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs 
with  Jesus  Christ.  And  in  the  sure 
title  to  an  inheritance  of  glory,  honour, 
and  immortality,  it  shall  be  yours  to 
expatiate  and  exult  in  the  prospect  of 
beholding  His  face  in  righteousness, 
and  anticipating  the  satisfaction  of  awak- 
ing in  the  resurrection  in  the  perfect 
image  of  God.  "Beloved,  now  are  we 
the  sons  of  God  ;  and  it  doth  not  yet 


OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  71 

appear  what  we  shall  be,  but  we  know 
that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall 
be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as 
he  is." 


i^- 


BS2421.K92ci 

The  private,  domestic  and  social  life  of 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00056  5889 


